Can Gionee’s Elife E7 overthrow the Nexus 5?

The Elife E7 comes with similar internal hardware as the Nexus 5, and features better cameras and a bigger battery.

Gionee is relatively unknown outside of China, and while it has offered the Elife E3, E5 and E6 in India, it has failed to find any traction with consumers. It is looking to change all that with the launch of the Elife E7. Gionee has used the best available hardware on the Elife E7, and in certain areas, has outdone what other manufacturers are offering.

The Elife E7 will be offered in two variants, one with LTE and the other with 3G connectivity. The LTE variants comes with Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon 800 MSM8974AC SoC that is clocked at 2.5 GHz. The 3G version features the 2.2 GHz Snapdragon MSM800 8974AB. The LTE version also has 3 GB RAM/32 GB internal storage, while the 3G version gets 2 GB RAM/ 16 GB internal memory. Both devices feature a 5.5-inch full-HD screen backed by Gorilla Glass 3, Wi-Fi ac, NFC and a 2,500 mAh battery.

While there are a lot of mobiles that feature the Snapdragon 800, with the Nexus 5 being one of them, Gionee is looking to differentiate the Elife E7 by offering a 16 MP camera at the back and an 8 MP camera at the front of the device. The camera at the back comes with a 1/2.3 inch sensor with 1.34 micron pixel size. The sensor used in the camera was made exclusively for Gionee by Omnivision, and features a Largan 6 element lens along with a crystal lens cover.

Software is another area that Gionee is getting better at, with the Elife E7 coming with the Amigo 2.0 skin on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Along with enhanced voice and gesture recognition, Amigo 2.0 adds a new camera and gallery UI. Gionee is also collaborating with Indian service providers in making local content available on its devices, in addition to establishing service centers across India to cater to consumers.

Gionee Mobiles is targeting the heavyweights in the category with the Elife E7, and its launch so close to the launch of the Nexus 5 is no coincidence. The Elife E7 is priced similar to the Nexus 5 as well, with the 32 GB LTE version coming in at $485. The most affordable version of the Elife E7 costs $437. On the other hand, the 32 GB Nexus 5 costs $534 in India and does not come with LTE connectivity. Similarly, the camera on the Nexus 5 is one of its weak points, and cannot match what Gionee is offering with the Elife E7.

But having better hardware is not the only factor that determines how well a mobile sells. Samsung has shown that time and again, by including antiquated hardware on its devices and still managing to sell a lot of units.

Gionee has a device that theoretically at least, can match what is offered by any other manufacturer in this segment. It does have a few hurdles to cross, the most major one being that of brand recognition. Chinese vendors traditionally do not fare well in India, but what does sell, at least when it comes to markets like India, is a device that offers great value for money. And the Elife E7 is just that. With aggressive advertising and celebrity endorsements, Gionee can mount a significant threat to the established manufacturers with the Elife E7.

Harish Jonnalagadda is an avid reader of science-fiction novels. A long-time Arsenal fan, his other interests include gaming, basketball and making music. He also likes tinkering with hardware in his free time.

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